


Take Emma to Work Day

by MommyMaleficent



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Adorable, Children, Daddy Charming, Fluff, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Mommy Snow, Non-Sexual Age Play, Preschool, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, little Emma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-11-04 07:04:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10985871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MommyMaleficent/pseuds/MommyMaleficent
Summary: When Mommy has to substitute for a preschool class, little Emma tags along for the ride.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this turned out much longer than I thought it would but it was so worth it. Like, this was supposed to be a quick oneshot-type deal but I’m a bit of an over-writer, I suppose.
> 
> Anyway, you don’t care. No one cares. Enjoy the story!

Early Monday morning, Emma rolls over in her bed and yawns, stretching a little before she opens her eyes. Her room is a soft blue color because the sun isn’t awake yet so it’s still sorta night-like but without the scary part. She snuggles her blankie before another yawn bigger than the last one comes out, and she stretches again, warm hands curling into fists and holding her arms high above her head. Still underneath the blanket she points her toesies as she stretches her legs. She wipes the sleepy yawny tears from her eyes with the sleeves of her jammies.

Mommy will be up soon, and the day will start, and Emma smiles when she remembers their plans. Mommy said she’s going to take Emma to school today. Emma’s never been to school with Mommy before, so she’s very, very excited. But right now Emma needs to go pee, and she decides to use the potty downstairs because that’s closer to Mommy and Daddy’s bed. So out of her bed she hops.

Daddy is snoring big daddy snores when she makes it downstairs, and Emma quickly tiptoes past their bed to the potty. She remembers to wash her hands and tries to flush as quietly as she can but the potty doesn’t want to do it quietly. When she gets out, Mommy and Daddy are still sleeping, so Emma tiptoes to their bed and crawls under the covers, cuddling between them and nuzzling Mommy’s shoulder, back to back with Daddy.

Mommy wakes up slowly, and smiles when she rolls over and sees Emma there.

“Mmmm... good morning, sweetheart,” she says, and Emma lifts up her head to let the crook of Mommy’s elbow be her new pillow.

“Morning, Mommy,” Emma says softly. She can’t stop smiling, and she knows Mommy knows why. Her left hand finds Mommy’s right one and begins to play with her fingers, pulling it closer to her. “I’m going to school with you today!”

Mommy gasps. “Oh, that’s right! You are! I almost forgot!”

Emma giggles. “No, you didn’t! Silly Mommy! You’re just trying to trick me!” Mommy giggles back and squeezes her fingers and gives them a quick kiss.

“I love you, Emma.”

“I love you too, Mommy!”

And then, a big, long arm falls over Emma’s body and a big, warm Daddy hand lands on her and Mommy’s hands. Emma gasps. Her Daddy’s awake!

“Look, Snow,” Daddy says to Mommy, and wraps his arms around Emma’s tummy. “Our very own Emma pillow! She came early! Did you order her?” He gives her a soft squeeze so he doesn’t hurt her, and Emma giggles, snuggling against him from behind.

Mommy laughs at Daddy’s silliness too. “Nope! I did not! She came here all on her own!”

“Mmmmmmm...” Daddy snuggles closer, kissing the back of Emma’s shoulder and the tippy-top of her head. He also squeezes her again. “I think I’ll stay in bed a little longer today, and cuddle with my favorite pillow. What do you think?” Mommy and Emma laugh again, and Mommy pretends to think about it, rolling her eyes to the ceiling.

“Hmmmm, that sounds nice...”

Emma frowns suddenly and turns her head towards Daddy. “Daddy?”

Daddy opens his eyes. He must hear the seriousness in her voice because he stops being silly for a second. “I didn’t squeeze too hard, did I? Did Daddy hurt your tummy, Emma?”

Emma shakes her head. “Uh-uh. I gotta fart.”

She bursts into giggles when Daddy backs up and lets go. Mommy laughs too, and after a second so does Daddy. He ruffles Emma’s hair and makes it messier than it already is before sitting up and leaning over to blow a raspberry kiss on her tummy, making her laugh some more. Then he gets out of bed just as Mommy’s alarm clock goes goes beepbeepbeepbeep-beepbeepbeepbeep!

“Daddy’s off to cook breakfast,” Mommy says with a yawn as she stretches. She takes her arm back and sits up too, looking down at Emma while she fixes her own messy bed hair. “How do blueberry pancakes sound, sweetheart?”

Emma rubs her tummy and licks her lips. “Mmmmmmmm!”

* * *

“Emma, how old are we today?”

Emma grunts as she tries to put on her favorite red princess sweater, sitting down on her bed when she backs into it. Mommy chuckles and helps, guiding each arm through the armholes and smiling big and wide when Emma pops her head through the neck hole.

Emma holds up her hand, showing all her fingers. “I’m five, Mommy!”

Mommy gasps, and helps Emma put her pants on, bunching up one leg so it’d be easier to slip on. “You’ll be a year older than the kids in the class! Do you think you can handle being my little helper for the day and a big sister to the students?”

Emma nods her head up and down excitedly, wiggling her toes when they poke through the pant leg. “Yup!”

Next, Emma puts on her socks all by herself, and Mommy praises her for remembering her left from her right, making Emma happy. But then, Mommy goes to grab her pink princess brush, and Emma puts her hands on her head to protect herself.

“Aaah! No brush, Mommy! Please?” Mommy looks at the brush for a second before putting it back... and right away reaches for the comb instead. “No comb either! They both hurt!”

But Mommy doesn’t put the comb back. “Sweetie, you can’t go anywhere with your hair looking like this... Let’s not argue, okay? I promise I’ll be gentle.”

Emma bites her lip, and slowly lowers her hands from her head. “Can I go pee first, please, Mommy?”

Mommy sighs. “I suppose.” She takes Emma’s hand and leads her downstairs. Once there, Emma slips her hand out of Mommy’s and runs straight to her Daddy in the kitchen, hugging him from behind. Mommy yells just as Daddy moves from the hot stove, taking Emma’s hands away and kissing her fingers over and over.

Daddy’s face is white and scared. “Emma, _please_ don’t do that ever again when either Daddy or Mommy is at the stove. You could’ve hurt yourself...” he kisses her pinky fingers. “Let Daddy know when you’re coming so he can move out of the way. Promise?”

“But it was a surprise!” she whines. Her eyes fill with tears at the scolding and quickly spill over. “I’m sorry, Daddy... I prom—I promise...”

Daddy hugs her, burying her face into his shoulder. He cradles her head like he always does ever since she was a little baby. “Sshh... easy there, Princess. Daddy loves Emma’s surprises, but he loves Emma more. You won’t do it ever again, right?”

Emma shakes her head against his shoulder. “Never ever...”

Daddy wipes away her tears and smiles at her. “Who’s Daddy’s little princess?” Emma smiles and sniffles. Daddy pats her on the head and makes a face. “Ooh... I think a certain princess has an audience with the Duke of Brushinghair, don’t you?” Emma’s smile goes away and she quickly shakes her head and hides her face in Daddy’s shoulder again.

“It’s non-negotiable on either side of the argument,” Mommy says, coming up from behind Emma, “Hold her for me?”

Unlike Mommy, Daddy is too strong for Emma to get away from no matter how much she tries. She cries the whole time. Mommy lied. She’s not gentle at all!

* * *

Daddy helps Emma tie her shoes and gives her a great big hug. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay here and help Daddy, Emma? We could take cartoon breaks and I can make you grilled cheese for lunch!” he winks. Emma giggles.

“Doesn’t count if you bring work home with you, silly! It’s Take Emma to Work Day, not Take Work to Emma Day!”

“Well, then,” says Daddy, preparing for another hug, “I will miss you terribly.” He wraps his big strong daddy arms around her, squeezing tight. He kisses her forehead and leans over to share a hug and long kiss on the lips with Mommy.

Emma looks away and cries out, “Ewwwwwww!” making Mommy and Daddy laugh when they stop making kissy faces.

After that, it’s time for school. Mommy helps Emma buckle up in the front, and they’re off!

* * *

When they get to the school building, Emma makes sure to stay very close to Mommy so no one gets lost. She holds onto her arm as Mommy leads them to the classroom, which is really big and has lots of space. Emma’s eyes widen at all the colors.

The lady watching over the other kids waves Emma and Mommy over and starts talking to Mommy. Right now it is morning recess. When it’s time for class, they start with Circle Time and a song, and then Free Choice, and then clean up, and then Emma stops listening.

She looks around at all the boys and girls playing with each other. A group of girls play house with the toy stove and kitchen, pretending to chop play food to make home-cooked meals like their mommies and daddies make. Nearby some boys are playing with toy cars and making vroom-vroom noises and racing them. On the big rainbow circle rug, another group of kids play Duck, Duck, Goose. There are a few more doing quiet things by themselves, but one little girl standing by the door gets her attention. Mommy is too busy talking to the other lady, so Emma very quietly tiptoes away.

The little girl is standing half in and half out of the room, all by herself, not looking at anyone. She has blonde hair like Emma’s but they’re in cute little pigtails, and she is wearing a beanie hat and a puffy pink jacket with jeans and pink sneaker shoes that stick instead of ties. When Emma gets close enough she can see the girl’s face is red, that she is upset and crying. Uh-oh. To try and cheer her up, Emma smiles, and kneels down to try and meet the girl’s eyes. The girl looks at her for a second, lip wobbling. She has brown eyes that remind Emma of chocolate.

“Hi there,” Emma says softly, “What’s your name?”

“E-Emmy...” the little girl says, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

Emma smiles wider. “That’s so cool, because my name is Emma. It’s almost the same. How old are you, Emmy?” Emmy sniffles, and holds up four fingers. Emma counts them. “Wow. Four is a pretty big number. Why are you crying, Emmy?” Emmy shakes her head, but Emma has a pretty good idea already. “Is today your first day of preschool ever?”

After a second, Emmy nods.

“I wanna go home... can you take me home, please, Emma? Please?”

Emma frowns a little and shakes her head. “I can’t, because it’s my first day too. My mommy is the teacher today, and I’m here to help her. But I promise, she’s super nice and fun.” She smiles again, suddenly getting an idea. “How about we go through the first day together? It’s not so scary when you have a friend to help you.”

Emmy bites her lip, and wipes her eyes with her other arm. “But-but you’re a grown-up. Grown-ups don’t have friends who are little kids. We’re too baby-ish. That’s what my big sister says, and she’s in the third grade.” She nods her head importantly. Emma gasps.

“Wow, that’s big. And your big sister is right. Most grown-ups don’t have friends who are little kids, but you know what?”

Emmy shakes her head. “What?”

“Can you keep a secret? Promise not to tell?” Emmy nods fast. Emma winks, holding a finger to her lips. “I might look like a grown-up, but today, I’m five.”

For the first time, Emmy smiles at her. When Emma holds out her arms for a hug, Emmy gives her one, sniffling the last of her tears away. She even giggles a little. Emma finds herself doing what Daddy always does for her and cradles Emmy’s head like a little baby. It makes her feel warm and fuzzy inside. Emmy hugs her tight.

“Promise I won’t tell,” she whispers in Emma’s ear. “I pinky swear it.”

They pinky swear.

After that, Emma helps little Emmy put her puffy jacket and pink princess backpack up on the hook in one of the empty cubby spaces next to the door. Then, taking Emmy by the hand, she leads her to where Mommy and all the other children are gathering at the rainbow circle rug for morning Circle Time.


	2. Chapter 2

Mommy leads the morning song to help everyone who is new learn each other’s names. First she picks out a name from her name sheet, and then she sings a line, and then the children sing it back. Once they start, she knows they will do a great job. Because Emma is Mommy’s little helper, Mommy starts with her first. It goes like this:

 

Where is Emma? (Where is Emma?)  
Please stand up! (Please stand up!)  
Wave hello to me, please! (Wave hello to me, please!)  
Sit back down! (Sit back down!)

 

Emma smiles shyly and does everything the song tells her to, standing and waving and sitting. She’s glad when her turn is over. There are twenty-two names to learn in all (twenty-three; Emmy’s wasn’t on there because she’s new), but she knows she won’t have to remember them after today. When the very last name is called, and Mommy is reading the paper to see what to do next, Emma claps her hands three times to get everyone’s attention. Some children, like Emmy, clap back. When she can see that every little boy and girl is looking at her, Emma looks to Mommy with a silly smile and starts to sing. They quickly repeat after her.

 

Where’s Mrs. Blanchard? (Where’s Mrs. Blanchard?)  
Please stand up! (Please stand up!)  
Wave hello to me, please! (Wave hello to me, please!)  
Sit back down! (Sit back down!)

 

Mommy doesn’t stand up, but she does wave to everyone when they sing her to. At the end of the song, she gives Emma’s shoulder a little squeeze since they can’t hug or kiss in school.

“Thank you, everyone!” she says cheerfully, “You all did such a good job—give yourselves a pat on the back!”

Emma looks over to Emmy to make sure she heard the praise. They share big matching smiles as they pat their own backs.

Before Mommy lets them go for Free Choice time, she ‘splains what it is for those who don’t know. Free Choice happens for thirty minutes after every morning and afternoon Circle Time. It’s when you can play with other kids at different stations, like the Kitchen play area, or the costume chest for the kids who want to dress up, or the bookshelf for the kids who want to get better at reading. After morning Free Time comes the Learning Centers, and Mommy will ‘splain more about those when the time comes.

Emma picks herself up from the floor and stretches before she lets Emmy take her hand and lead her to the station she wants to play at. But before they get to the bookshelf, someone pulls on her other sleeve.

“Emma, will you play house with me?” asks Alison, a little girl with blue glasses too big for her face and a hat taken from the costume chest across the room. “Pretty please?”

Before Emma can answer, another girl, Janie, runs over to them with paper and some crayons. She has very red hair in two braids. “Emma, come draw pictures with me!”

“No, Emma, come play cars with us!” A boy in a green shirt shouts from the other side of the room. Was he Jason or Jackson? He and another kid, Justin, wave at her with their trucks.

“Uhhhh...” Emma looks from face to face, from Alison’s to Janie’s to the boys to Emmy. So many choices. How can she pick? She looks to Mommy for help.

It’s a good thing Mommy sees her and comes to her rescue, placing a hand on Janie and Alison’s shoulders. “Why don’t we let Emma go to the bookshelf first? She likes to read. I’m sure she’ll have time for everyone today.”

Janie smiles and shrugs. “Okay.” She turns to Alison. “Wanna go play cars with the boys?”

Alison makes a face. “But they have cooties!” she whines. Janie laughs.

“Only if they touch dirt first, silly. We haven’t been outside yet. They haven’t been exposed to the cootie bugs yet.”

“Ohhhhh... okay!” Hand in hand, the two girls run to where the boys were playing at crashing their cars together, ignoring Mommy telling them not to run. While Emmy goes ahead to pick out a book she wants to read, Emma gives Mommy a little hug.

“Thank you,” she whispers. Mommy pats her back.

“Of course, baby.”

Emma spends the first part of her time reading with Emmy, who knows a little about reading and a lot about witches. They read Wilma the Silly Wishful Witch from front to back before Emma heads off to go play with the other kids who wanted her to. Emmy lets her go without fuss, picking up another book.

“I’ll be here when you come back,” she whispers, “I like reading too.”

Emma smiles at her. “I’ll be back soon.”

By this time, Alison, Janie, Justin, and Jason were playing a new dress up game together. Janie and Justin were pretending to be peasants, and Alison was their mommy. Jason was a knight and maybe the daddy. He points a cardboard sword at Emma when she gets too close.

“Halt, you... you big, uh... big giant!” He cries, blue eyes darting back and forth, “Uh, the, uh, peasants are, um... busy with work! You are to c-come back another time!”

Emma gasps ’zaggeratedly, placing a hand over her heart. “Oh! I am so sorry! I did not realize!”

“That’s right!” Jason continues, smiling now. “Your big footsteps cause the ground to shake! And-and your, um... your breath makes our eyes water, and... and... um, begone, evildoer! Away with you! Or I will stab you with my sword!”

Emma giggles, raising her arms up and making her hands look like scary claws and her voice go deep. “Fee, fi, fo, fum! I smell the blood of a tasty human!” She takes a big step forward, almost losing her balance and falling backwards, it was so big.

Jason laughs before he remembers he’s supposed to kill her. He points the sword at her right but she moves left. He points to her left but she goes right. He pokes her with the tip of it at the center of her chest and Emma falls to her knees and pretends to die. She keeps her eyes open though. Alison, Janie and Justin surround her, towering over her and singing their praises to the knight who defended them from the terrible giant. When this chapter of their game is over, they all check to see if she’s okay. Emma sits up and laughs with them, and tells them yes she is.

“Thank you for letting me play with you,” she says. Mommy says it’s always polite to thank someone ‘specially if you have a good time. The kids giggle and thank her right back.

“You’re really fun!” Jason says, clapping his hands. He pushes the sword out of the way so he can step up and hug her. Justin, Alison and Janie all hug her too, and Jason comes back for seconds.

“You wanna play cars with us now?” Justin asks excitedly, bouncing up and down in place.

Emma nods. “Yeah!"

She plays trucks with the boys, and afterwards she plays a little bit of house with the girls before going back to the bookshelf. There were a few other kids there, but no Emmy.

Emma looks around. Where is she? Is Emmy mad at her for taking too long? She looks for her Mommy. Mommy is sitting at one of the big tables, writing on papers and mostly not paying attention. Sometimes she looks up and smiles at the kids she sees, but not right now. Emmy isn’t near her either.

“Emma?” Someone tugs at her sweater from behind. When Emma turns around, Emmy is there, holding an old Barney book and blinking her big brown eyes at her. Emma smiles and pats little Emmy’s head.

“You scared me, silly,” she says, giggling a bit.

Emmy giggles too. “Sorry!”

They read a little more before Mommy gets everyone’s attention again with a small clapping game. Just like the song, when she claps a pattern, they clap it back. Mommy says it’s time to put all the toys down and gather around the tables.

“It’s time for Learning Centers!” she says, “But before we do that, we have to put away all our toys. Does everyone know the Cleanup song?”

“YEAH!” everyone yells all excited and forgetting their indoor voices. Emma doesn’t yell as loud as other kids just in case Mommy scolds them for being super loud. But Mommy just claps her hands happily.

“Good! Why don’t we sing while we work? It’ll make things go by much faster! All together now—one, two, three, go!”

* * *

Learning Centers are for practicing letters and numbers and simple spellings and maths and all sorts of important things little kids will need to know for when they’re big. Everyone sits in small table groups to practice what they want to learn first, and then, every twenty minutes, they would switch and move to other groups with their table mates so everyone gets a turn doing everything.

Emma sits next to Mommy and practices her letters with her left hand. She decides little Emma could learn how to write on her own like all the other kids are doing. Her right hand is for big Emma.

Emmy’s writing is good, better than Emma’s. Her S’s are backwards, but her small H’s don’t look like N’s, and Emma thinks that’s very ‘pressive.

Mommy looks at Emma’s paper and gives her little girl a gentle pat on the back and a smile. Emma smiles back and continues practicing her alphabet. Mommy doesn’t have to say anything for Emma to know she’s proud of her. Emma just knows.

* * *

After Learning Centers, it’s time for the morning snack. Mommy takes all the boys to the boy’s bathroom down the hall to go wash their hands and Emma takes all the girls to the girl’s bathroom next to the boy’s one to do the same. Some girls even go potty in the toilets. Emma watches to make sure every girl washes her hands with soap so they’re all extra clean.

“What if I don’t like soap?” Emmy asks, folding her arms across her chest. She’s pouting. “It feels gross between my fingers and I hate it.”

Emma crosses her arms too. “You still need to, Emmy, because that’s the rules of being clean.” She kneels to meet the little girl’s eyes like earlier, smiling a little. “Do you think you can do it if I wash next to you?”

Emmy shrugs slowly. “Can we go last? Just us two?”

Emma nods. “Sure.”

Mommy pops her head into the bathroom right as Emma and Emmy are finishing drying their hands.

“We’re heading back,” she says, “Hurry up, sweetie.”

“Coming...” Emma answers without looking at her. She takes Emmy’s paper towel and throws it at the trash, making sure it lands in it before she leaves.

Back in the classroom, everyone talks to their neighbors while Emma helps Mommy pass out little tiny packages of cookies and crackers and little cartons of milk to each little kid. Once everyone has two foods and a drink, they can finally eat. Some kids open their milk first. Mommy and Emma help open any packets or milks that are being stubborn. Emmy blows bubbles in her milk through her straw, and the other kids see and copy her, laughing at the silliness of it. But then Mommy tells them not to do that because it’s bad manners and not polite.

When Mommy’s back is to the class, Emma turns to Emmy and a few other kids sitting close by and winks. Some of them start giggling, probably knowing what she’s up to.

She takes in a breath and blows as hard as she can into her milk carton.

The milk makes a big bubble and pops right in front of her eyes, splashing her face and some of her table space. Emma quickly wipes her face with her hands while Emmy and some of the other kids sitting near her who saw the whole thing help by passing their napkins over to wipe up the spilled milk on the table. Mommy turns around and catches them in the act, making many of the kids gasp, thinking they’re in trouble. Emma stops wiping and laughs a little, scratching the back of her head.

“Oops?” she tries, giving Mommy her very best ‘oopsie-daisy’ smile.

Mommy sighs, shaking her head. But she’s smiling too. “Oh, Emma. _Really_?”


	3. Chapter 3

After snack time cleanup, it’s time for outside recess.

“After recess comes naptime,” Mommy says, “And then, when everyone is well-rested, it’ll be time for lunch! Sound good?”

Emma stays behind to help Mommy put sleeping mats into the big spots in everyone’s cubbies. Not only is she being a good and helpful little girl, but she and Mommy haven’t had any time by themselves all day. Emma’s been wanting Mommy-Emma alone time since Free Choice. Even just one tiny little baby cuddle would make the day a little better than it most already is.

But then she sees Emmy standing by the door again, watching them quietly and not looking very playful. When Emma finishes filling ten cubbies, she goes to her with another smile.

"Are you waiting for me to come and play?” Emmy nods. “Awww, thank you! You’re such a sweet friend! I’ll try to finish soon, but don’t you want to go play with the other kids? Alison and Janie and Becky are really nice—I’m sure they’ll let you play with them.”

Emmy pouts, shaking her head. “But I don’t wanna play with them... I don’t know them. I wanna stay with you, Emma.”

Emma pets her hair. “I’ll do my best to be fast. Why don’t you go and find a game to play with the other kids first?”

“I s’pose...” Emmy nods. She starts to go away, but then she looks back to see if Emma is still watching her. Emma waves a little, and Emmy smiles and waves back before going for real.

Mommy is counting the little cotton blankets and pillows and making sure there are enough for everyone so no one is cold or uncomfy during their naps. She hands a few blankets to Emma to put with the sleeping mats while she stuffs the small pillows in on top as best she can. “Who were you talking to, sweetie? Did you make a new friend?”

“Mmmhmm!” Emma nods happily. “Her name is Emmy, and she has the same color hair as me, and it’s in cute little pigtails like how Daddy used to do for me, and today’s her first day too!”

Mommy laughs softly. “Is that so?”

“Yup!”

After the blankets, pillows, and mats are all taken care of, Mommy takes Emma by the hand to the room next door where it’s quiet and no one can see them. She makes sure to close the door very carefully so there’s no creaky noises. There is no mistake who the room’s for: it’s the preschool teacher’s office room. There’s an uncomfy-looking green couch and some pillows on it next to a big teacher’s desk that’s filled all over with stuff (sitting on top is Mommy’s bag that she brought with her), and a big bookshelf with lots of big books near that too. Mommy shows Emma to the couch and lets Emma sit on her lap. Emma gets comfy and rests her head on Mommy’s shoulder and sighs happily. Mommy holds her close and kisses her forehead. Emma kisses Mommy’s cheek right back, right before a yawn comes out.

“Are you tired, Emma?” Mommy asks softly, patting Emma’s shoulder and rubbing her arm and making it all warm, “Do you want to nap in here during naptime, princess?”

Emma snuggles closer, nuzzling Mommy’s neck with her nose and curling her fist around Mommy’s shirt at her shoulder. She holds on tight. “Will you be with me, Mommy? Right here, like now? I’m scared to be all alone by myself...” Mommy kisses her some more, and touches Emma’s cheek and pets it with her thumb and the backs of her fingers.

“Of course, baby. I’ll have to check on the other children to make sure everyone is okay, though, but I will always be nearby if you need me.”

Emma looks up at her, straight into Mommy’s pretty green eyes. She can feel her voice going higher and quieter and squeakier like it always does when she’s going to cry. “Promise? You won’t leave me, Mommy?”

Shaking her head, Mommy smiles her very best prettiest smile. “Mommy will only be in the next room, Emma, and I won’t take long, baby, I promise.” Emma takes a shaky breath, and sniffles.

“Okie... I like it when it’s just you and me...” she mumbles, closing her eyes. “It’s hard sharing my mommy with other little boys and girls...”

“Oh, Emma...” Mommy says softly, “I love spending time alone with you too. Always. No matter what, you will always be my favorite little girl in the whole wide world. No contest.” She waits a second, giving Emma’s shoulder a squeeze, then adds, “Tell you what. At 2:30, the school day for these little ones will be over; why don’t you and I take the rest of the afternoon off to do whatever you want?”

Emma nods and yawns again. She wiggles in Mommy’s lap a little and moves to rest her chin on Mommy’s shoulder. Their plan sounds like the best one in the whole wide world, and only her smart, pretty and perfect Mommy can come up with it. “Can we go home, and snuggle, and watch movies, and eat popcorn, and drink juice? With Daddy too?”

Mommy laughs a little and starts to rock Emma back and forth very gently. Daddy has his ways of holding Emma and helping her feel little and Mommy has hers. “Well, we’ll have to ask Daddy if he has time, but yes, sweetheart. We most certainly can do all those things.”

And then Mommy begins to hum a song in her ear. It’s a pretty little song, the same one the cartoon Snow White sings when the animals in the forest help her feel better after she gets lost in the woods and falls down. Mommy’s voice is gentle and sweet and reminds Emma of floating in a warm bath with bubbly bubbles and a soft fruity smell. There are also little sparkly lights, and a feeling of pure love that wraps all around her like a big fluffy towel or her blankie. She lets out a big, comfy sigh, and smiles right away when Mommy starts to pat her back.

Mommy sings, and Mommy rocks, and Mommy kisses Emma and tells her she loves her and that she’s very proud of her little girl for being such a good helper so far, and that it won’t be long before they can go home. Mommy holds her until they hear another teacher’s whistle that outside recess is over and they have to go back.

With a little whine and a pout, Emma lets Mommy get up, taking her warmth away. Before she goes, Mommy moves away hair from Emma’s eyes and tucks it behind both her ears, smiling when they meet eyes.

“Daddy and I are so blessed to have such an amazing little girl,” she says, making Emma smile. Mommy always knows the right thing to say.

* * *

Emma feels much better than she did before recess started. It’s only when the preschoolers line up for one last potty break before their naps did she remember what she said to Emmy.

“Oh no...” she whispers to herself, “I forgot...”

Emmy gives her a big hug when she sees her, squeezing Emma’s waist. She’s smiling lots, and Emma can’t help but do the same in return. "I played with the other kids, Emma! I think they like me—they let me play with them right away just like you said!”

“That’s great!” Emma hugs Emmy back and tries not to do it as hard. Big Emma’s strength is way too strong for tiny littler bodies. When she’s done, she pulls back and squats down to look Emmy in the eye. “I’m sorry I couldn’t play with you, Emmy. Mrs. Blanchard and I were talking and I didn’t realize—”

“Oh, it’s okay!” Emmy giggles. “I know you didn’t forget on purpose. We can play later, right? Just you and me for Free Choice time?”

Nodding, Emma smiles again. “Right.” They hug some more. “Are you ready for your nap?”

Emmy nods, taking Emma’s hand and leading her to her cubby. “Will you please lie down with me, Emma?”

Even though Emma and Mommy made absolutely sure there are enough blankets and pillows and sleeping mats, somehow, Emmy’s cubby is empty.

Someone took her naptime things.

Emma looks around for Mommy to ask if she saw who did, but Mommy is busy talking about stuffed animals and maybe she’ll read a story and helping the other kids find places to lie down with their own mats and pillows and blankets.

Guess she has to figure this one out by herself without Mommy’s help.

“Hmm...” Emma hums, looking around the room. What to do? Wait! She looks back to Emmy, who blinks up at her still confused about how she is going to nap without her things. “Instead of me lying down with you, how about you lie down with me?”

“Huh?” Emmy asks with a frown, “What does _that_ mean?”

When Emma shows her the room Mommy took her to during recess, the one that belongs to the real teacher, Emmy’s eyes grow big and wide. Like Mommy did, Emma takes Emmy to the couch and sits her down. There is already a pillow from the couch and a blanket there waiting for Emma, but no mat. They put these things aside for now.

“You can nap here with me if you want,” Emma says, shrugging. Emmy nods her head up and down very fast.

“I’d love to!” she says loudly, quickly covering her mouth when Emma shushes her. “Sorry! I’d love to!” she repeats in whispers.

Emma giggles. “I’ll let Mrs. Blanchard know you’re here, and then I’ll come back, okay?”

Mommy is counting the students’ raised hands when Emma sneaks up behind her and taps her on the shoulder. Mommy gets scared for a moment and yells “Oh!” making Emma jump too, and some of the kids laugh. Emma leans in close to Mommy’s ear.

“Emmy’s gonna be sleeping with me on the couch. Is that okay?” she whispers.

Mommy blinks when they pull apart, nodding slowly. “Okay. Yeah, that’s fine.” She pats Emma’s shoulder softly. “I’ll be there shortly. Oh! Before you go...” she holds up two books. One is Goodnight Moon, the other is The Kissing Hand. “Which one do you think I should read for naptime? The kids’ voting ended in a tie.”

“Goodnight Moon is a classic!” Alison says loudly from her spot next to the wooden toy stove, “That means it’s very refined litrature, you know.”

“But The Kissing Hand is sweet!” Janie argues. She is clutching a small rabbit stuffie that looks very old but very loved. “It’s very good for the first day of school.”

Emma crosses her arms and stares at the two covers hard. She likes them both. Big Emma when she was little loved Goodnight Moon because it was in almost every house she stayed at, and while little Emma likes it too, little Emma only hears that story at night when Daddy reads it in his soft, sleepy voice. Never for naps. But big Emma doesn’t like The Kissing Hand because sometimes it makes her sad, even though little Emma likes it a lot. What to do, which to pick?

“Hmmm...” Emma hums. She looks up at Mommy and shrugs her shoulders up and down. “Flip a coin?”

Mommy’s eyes widen. “Of course! Good idea. Well done, Emma...” She gives the books to Emma to hold and walks very fast to the other room for her purse. “Heads for Moon... tails for Hand.”

* * *

Mommy puts a box in front of the door so it doesn’t close so Emma and Emmy can hear her read the story in her soft, sweet, soothing voice. They are lying down together on the green couch. Emmy snuggles close to Emma, resting her head on Emma’s shoulder and her hand over Emma’s heart. She says she likes to hear it beat because it sounds like her mommy’s heartbeat. Emma gently rubs Emmy’s back and covers her little friend with the small cotton blanket that’s made for her little body more than Emma’s.

“Sweet dreams, Emma,” Emmy whispers.

“Sweet dreams, Emmy,” Emma whispers back.

She closes her eyes and pretends Emmy is a warm teddy. Mommy is going to come in soon to sit with her and she can feel safer because Mommy’s there. Emma won’t fall asleep til Mommy comes.

She won’t.

Really, she means it.

(But she does.)


	4. Chapter 4

“Emma...” someone says in a slow, soft, singsongy voice that sounds so far away, “It’s time to wake up, sweetheart...”

When Emma opens her eyes, the first thing she sees is Mommy’s smile. She reaches up to touch her face, and Mommy lets her, kissing Emma’s fingers and nuzzling her hand with her cheek.

“Did we have a good nap, baby?”

Emma nods sleepily. She turns her head to to check on Emmy sleeping just next to her with her little back to the back of the couch, only to see just the small cotton blanket. Emma lifts up her head, looking up at Mommy, and sits up, socks to the floor.

“Where’s Emmy? She was sleeping right here...” she pats her side closest to the back of the couch before looking back to Mommy. “She was right here with me...”

Mommy frowns. “I-I don’t know. I didn’t see anyone when I came in... Are you sure she didn’t decide to join the other children?”

Emma shakes her head fast, squeezing her eyes shut. “No, I-I’d feel... s-she wanted to be with me! She said!” She starts to breathe faster like she does when she runs and her heart is beating a million bajillion times a second. Mommy is telling her to calm down but the lump in her throat is already there and the tears in her eyes and the cold down her back. She starts crying when she looks at Mommy again. But not too loud because the children are probably still sleeping. Mommy hugs her tight, petting Emma’s hair and whispering “it’s okay, baby, it’s not your fault, we’ll find her...”

Mommy gives her forehead a kiss and gets on her knees on the floor between Emma’s legs. She holds Emma’s face in her hands and gently puts their foreheads together, wiping away every tear she can with her thumbs.

“Take a deep breath, Emma,” she says. Emma does. She takes two. Both are shaky but the second is a do-over. “That’s my girl. Now, listen to Mommy. There’s no need to panic, okay? We will find her. I promise you.”

Emma sniffles. “What if we don’t?” she sobs, her voice quiet and squeaky. “Wh-what if—”

“We _will_ ,” Mommy repeats firmly. She wipes away more tears. “We can’t not find her. This part of the school isn’t big enough for her to have gotten out unseen. The fences are too tall for any little girl or boy her age to climb.” Getting up, Mommy takes a seat on the couch and hugs Emma tight, letting Emma’s cheek rest on her chest. “Don’t you worry, baby, it’s going to be all right. Mommy will take care of this, okay?”

Emma nods. “O-okay...”

“Do you want to stay here a little longer until you feel better?”

Emma shakes her head. “I want...” she pulls away from the hug and wipes her eyes with her sleeves with a sniffle. “I want to find Emmy.”

Mommy grabs some tissues from the tissue box on the teacher’s desk and helps Emma blow her nose and kisses her wet sticky cheeks. She boops Emma’s nose and made her giggle. She takes a few tissues and wets them with her water bottle and pats Emma’s cheeks a bit. Then, she makes Emma drink a few gulps of water. After all that, Mommy stands up and, holding Emma’s hand, tiptoes to the closed door and slooooowly opens it so it doesn’t make any noise.

The room is dark. Everyone is sleeping; some snoring, others not. The windows have drapes made out of pinks and greens to keep the sky from being too bright and blue. Emma tiptoes her way around, looking at every face, behind every big object, looking for Emmy. Mommy does too, but she starts somewhere else.

Suddenly, Emma hears knocking. She turns to Mommy, and then to the door. Mommy’s looking too. Emmy’s standing there, rubbing her eye with the back of her fist.

“Emma?” she says softly, just an inch above a whisper, “What’s wrong?”

Emma tiptoes as fast as she can to the door, and takes Emmy to the couch again. She picks her up and sits her on her lap and hugs her like she would her favorite stuffie. She wants to kiss Emmy’s cheek but that might not be an okay thing to do no matter how how she feels right now.

Emmy hugs her back tightly. “What’s wrong, Emma? Please tell me.”

Emma wants to cry. She can feel it coming. “I just...” No crying now. Not in front of Emmy. “I didn’t know where you were and I got scared.” She stops hugging Emmy and looks her in her chocolate brown eyes. “Where did you go? Why? You’ll be cranky if you didn’t nap.”

Emmy looks down at her lap and starts playing with her fingers. “I...”

But then Mommy pokes her head in. “Everything okay, Emma?”

Emma nods. “Yeah.” Mommy nods back.

“I’m going to wake the other children up from their nap and get them ready for lunch. You come to the bathrooms when you’re done here, okay?”

“Okay.”

Mommy closes the door all the way except for a very small crack. When she’s gone, Emma turns back to Emmy. “Emmy?”

Emmy bites her lip. “You fell asleep faster than me so I... I went to go get another story to read by myself so I could fall asleep too. I was looking at books in the dark because all the other children were sleeping and it was quiet. Then when Teacher comes to check on us I hid because I didn’t wanna get in trouble. Then she closed the door so I couldn’t get back in without her seeing, so I kept looking at the books the rest of the time.” She looks up then, and her voice is so tiny. “Are you mad at me?”

Emma hugs her. “No. I’m not mad. You scared me a lot, but I’m not mad. Promise.”

Emmy hugs her right back. “I’m so very super sorry I scared you, Emma. I didn’t mean to, honest, I didn’t.”

“I know, Emmy, it’s okay.” When they’re done hugging, Emma wags a finger at her like Auntie Gina does when she wants Emma to listen good. “But don’t do it again. I mean it. Napping is important for little girls, ‘specially on their first days.”

Emmy nods fast. “I won’t. I promise!” She holds up her pinky again, and Emma does the same.

Another pinky swear. And one more hug for the road. No kisses, but Emma doesn’t mind. Emmy knows she loves her, doesn’t she? She has to. She just has to.

* * *

After they put away their napping things and go potty and wash up in the bathrooms, it’s time for lunch. Some children have lunches their mommies or daddies or grannies or nannies packed for them in cute little lunch boxes with My Little Pony or Scooby-Doo on the front. Others get regular tuna sandwiches, either chocolate or plain milk, and some fruit snacks.

Mommy made Emma her favorite foods for her lunch. Little Emma loves mac’n’cheese and chocolate milk. Mommy doesn’t like apples so Emma gets little pear slices. And there’s a little mini-muffin in there too.

There’s even a surprise note from Daddy stuck to her muffin. When Mommy goes to see if the other kids need help opening anything, Emma takes out her note. She giggles quietly to herself when she reads it.

 

Emma—  
Don’t tell your mother I snuck in here!  
—Daddy

 

There’s are two silly drawings under the words. One is Daddy making a silly face at her, and the other is Daddy winking and giving a thumbs up. Daddy draws good.

“What do you have there, Emma?” Mommy asks when she comes back and sits next to her. She puts down her sandwich and leans over to look, but Emma turns the note away from her.

“It’s a secret!”

On Emma’s... left, she feels Emmy touching her arm to get a better look at Daddy’s note. “Ooooh, is it a love note?”

“Emma got a love note?!” Janie yells from her end of the table. This gets everyone’s attention right away. The whole room goes quiet to stare at their group. Janie covers her mouth with her hands. “Oopsie.”

Emma groans, hitting her forehead with her hand. “Thank you, Daisy-Jane Blythe.”

“Ooooooooh!” the class goes when they hear Janie’s full name. Alison, sitting next to Janie, pats her shoulder and whispers things in her ear. After that, Alison raises her hand, and Emma calls on her.

“Who’s your love note from? Do you have a boyfriend, Emma?”

Emma giggles and shakes her head. “Nope, but it’s from a boy. But he’s not my boyfriend. I don’t want one. And it’s not a love note. Not really. The word love isn’t on it, so it can’t be.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s not a love note!” Jasper yells from two tables away. He stands on his chair to be seen as well as heard.

Mommy stands up too, but on the floor. “Jasper, chairs are for sitting. Get down, please.”

Jasper doesn’t listen. “My big brother Amy is in high school, and he has three boyfriends, and they write notes to each other all the time talking about what they want to do when they get together for sleepovers! And he says they don’t have to use the word love in it for it to still be a love note, so there!”

Emma blinks. “Good for him.”

Having said his piece and liking her answer, Jasper sits backs down. Jason and the other boys start asking him questions about his brother and why he’s named Amy. Mommy sighs, and goes to the boys’ table group to have a talk with him about standing up on chairs and why it’s dangerous.

“Are you gonna write him back?” Janie asks, leaning over her little salad lunch. She has a piece of lettuce stuck in her teeth but she’s talking a little quieter now so Emma doesn’t mind. “Boyfriend or not, love note or not, are you going to talk back? What will you say?”

“This is so romantic...“ Becky sighs, batting her eyelashes. “Do you think it’s from a prince?”

Emma giggles and looks down at her lap where her note is sitting. “Well, I don’t know about that. I think he is one. But he should be a king because he’s too old to be a prince, I think.”

“Oooooh, a king! That’s even better than a prince! It means you’re gonna be queen!”

Alison leans over too. “Can we see it, Emma, please? We won’t show the boys, right, girls? Can’t risk getting their cooties all over it now that we’ve all been outside. I saw Jason and Jasper wrestling in the sand, and sand is kind of like dirt. They’re full of it now, I bet!” She looks to Emmy and Becky and Janie. They all shake their heads.

“No boys.”

“Boys are gross!”

“Unless they’re royal.” Emmy adds. Three heads nod in agreement, and Emma joins them. They all turn back to her. Emmy leans her head on Emma’s arm. “Will you please show it, Emma?”

Emma looks up to check how Mommy’s talk with the boys is going. She looks like she’s almost done. Emma bites her lip and calls the girls to come a little closer. Each one except for Emmy leans over their table space to hear what she has to say.

“I’m gonna pass it this way—” she says quietly, looking from Emmy sitting next to her, then Alison sitting next to her, then Janie, then finally Becky, who is actually sitting between Janie and Mommy’s spots. “—under the table. And when you’re all done looking at it, you’re going to pass it back the same way. We can’t let Mrs. Blanchard find out about this note.”

Alison gasps, her eyes widening. “Why not? Is it scandalous?”

“Because Emma said so, that’s why!” Emmy says quickly. “And since her mommy’s the teacher and Teacher’s not here, what she says goes!”

They quickly agree on that. Mommy starts to come back just as Emma hands it to Emmy. Emmy looks at it for a second and hands it to Alison, who giggles and hands it to Janie, who gasps and hands it to Becky who doesn’t do anything because by the time it got to Janie Mommy’s already back and looking at them closely.

“Did I miss any exciting girl talk?” she asks, looking each girl in the face. They all giggle, even Emma.

“No, Mrs. Blanchard,” Becky and Alison say almost at the same time. Mommy nods like she understands but her smile says she knows something’s up. She looks at Emma and down at her lap.

“Where’s your note, Emma?” she asks sweetly.

Emma quickly stuffs a bite of cheesy macaroni in her mouth. “I put it away...” she says with her mouth full. “It’s very distracting.”

Emmy’s fingers are cold when she pokes Emma’s leg with them. She puts the note on Emma’s knee and keeps it there with her hand until Emma can safely take it back.

Mommy never notices.

* * *

After lunchtime cleanup comes another Circle Time, ‘cept this time they don’t have to sit in a circle. Emma sits in a chair in the front facing the class because Mommy said she could.

Since naptime and lunchtime are over, there isn’t much time left in the school day, so this Circle Time is shorter than the morning one. The morning one lasts for twenty minutes but this one is only ten. Mommy writes down on a big piece of grid paper on a big easel with a pink marker what it is they’re going to do next.

Mommy writes Circle Time on top in big letters and circles it. Then, under it but not ‘zactly, she writes Story Time, and draws a line from that to Circle Time. She does the same thing when she writes Free Choice on the other side of the paper next to Story Time. Then she says that after Circle Time, they can have Free Choice again, or Story Time, where Mommy reads them a book they want to hear. But if they pick Story Time, they would get Free Choice tomorrow because they can’t do both. After they pick the one they want, comes ten minutes of Quiet Time, where the whole class has to do quiet things, and then they can play outside until their mommies and daddies come to pick them up to go home because it’ll be the end of the day.

The class decides to vote again, and this time it isn’t a tie. Only seven kids wanted Free Choice, and the rest wanted a story. Emmy also wanted a story, but she makes it very clear she wants Emma to tell it. A lot of the other kids say they want that too, making Emma cover her face behind her hands all embarrassed for a second. Mommy even asks if she has a story she wants to tell, and when Emma looks up and says no, Mommy comes over and rests her hands on Emma’s shoulders.

“I have a story,” Mommy says from her spot behind Emma’s chair, “It’s got a little bit of everything in it. Good guys fighting bad guys, love, a little mystery... like a fairytale, actually, but I don’t think you want to hear that.”

“Yes, we do!” the kids say loudly altogether, especially Alison, Janie and Jason.

But Mommy keeps pulling their legs. “Nah, you guys are almost adults. You’re too mature for fairytales.”

“What’s mature mean?” Emmy asks, while the other kids are saying, louder this time, “We wanna hear a fairytale!”

Emma smiles as she looks up at her Mommy. Everyone knows mommies and daddies and adults tell stories the best. She’s only five, so she’ll forget things or not keep it straight sometimes, but Mommy’s so super-duper smart, she remembers everything and more.

“All right then,” Mommy says, clapping her hands. “Criss-cross-applesauce, everyone. It’s time for a story!”

“YAY!” everyone cheers.

Emma moves so Mommy can sit in her seat because there’s no other chairs nearby. She takes a spot in the back so she isn’t in anyone’s way, and Emmy, Alison, Janie, Becky, Jason, and Justin all move to sit by her right away. Emma sits criss-cross like everyone else, but Emmy sits right in her lap. Alison and Becky sit next to them, and Janie and the boys sit a bit in front. They all look up to Mommy when they’re done finding their new spots and getting comfy sitting how Mommy wants them to. Mommy has a big smile on her face.

“I see someone had no trouble making new friends today,” she says with a little giggle.

Smiling to herself, Emma looks down at the back of Emmy’s head, at all the kids who are around her. They smile at her, showing their teeth, and Emma smiles back. She puts a finger to her lips to tell them to be quiet, and looks to Mommy again to start the story.

Then she notices Emmy has fallen asleep already, and Emma gently rests her chin on little Emmy’s head. Guess she has to listen twice as much for both of them.


	5. Chapter 5

When Mommy clears her throat and opens her mouth to speak, almost everyone holds their breath.

“Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a kingdom, and in this kingdom lived a princess. Yes, Alison?”

“Was the princess you, Mrs. Blanchard?” Alison asks. Mommy smiles and doesn’t answer right away.

“I’ll get to that. Now, the princess lived with her mother and father, also known as—Nicolas?”

“The King and Queen!”

“Yes! They lived in a big palace, and they were very happy, and very good rulers. The people of their kingdom loved them dearly, and they loved the people of their kingdom just as much. One day, when the princess was a little girl, walking in the woods with her nanny, she found out she had a wonderful gift: whenever she would talk to birds—the birds would talk back.”

The kids gasp. Emma smiles secretly. Alison’s right. Mommy _is_ talking about herself.

Janie moves to sit on her knees. “So she understands them? Or does she pretend she does?”

“She understands them, and they understand her. She went straight home to tell her parents, but neither of them could tell the difference between the voices of crows, let alone what they could be saying. So, she kept her gift to herself, and befriended every bird who wanted to befriend her.

“On the princess’s ninth birthday, her mother falls gravely ill, and no one knows why. The princess goes out into the forest to look for a friend of her family’s, a very powerful fairy, who can help. She wants to make a wish to save her mother. The fairy hears her call, and answers, gifting the princess with a candle. She tells the little girl that in order to save her mother’s life, she must take away someone else’s, and never tell anyone about this. But the princess knows if she does this, it wouldn’t be fair, so she goes home without. She tells her mother what happened with the fairy, and how sad she is because she only wants to help her get well, but the queen is happy. The queen tells the princess she is proud of her for having the strength to say no, and if the princess keeps being good and kind, then she, the queen, will always be in her heart. Later that night, the queen passes away.”

“Awwwwwh...” the class sighs sadly. Emma can feel tears again, but she swallows and bites her lip to keep them from coming out. Mommy continues her story after a short pause.

“One day, when the princess is riding her horse in the forest, something strange happens. Something scares her horse so bad, it starts to run without her permission, and wouldn’t stop when she told it to. The princess calls for help over and over, and help comes in the form of a pretty woman a little older than her, riding on her own horse. The woman saves the princess’s life, and because she did, the King wants her to be the princess’s new mother, and asks to marry her.”

“Uh-oh...“ Alison mumbles, “Stepmothers are never good.”

Mommy laughs a little. “Well, it depends. Before the woman married the King, she and the princess became very best friends, very close. They shared many secrets together. Now, the woman’s mother was not a nice person, but the princess didn’t know it at the time. She tricked the princess into telling her the woman’s secrets, which, as you all know, is a very bad thing to do. Once the woman found out, she was very hurt and angry, but not at her mother—at the princess.”

“What?!“ Jasper asks, his voice a high squeak. “But the princess was tricked! It wasn’t her fault!” Mommy nods.

“Some years later, the King dies, and the princess and the woman, who has been queen for many years now, try to be friends again. The princess goes into the forest on an outing with one of the guards the queen has attend to her. They talk about the late King, but when the guard doesn’t offer his sympathies like all the rest, the princess realizes she’s in danger and runs deep into the woods. The guard catches up with her, and finds her writing a letter to her stepmother, the queen, saying she hopes the people and the kingdom will be ruled fairly and that the queen can finally be happy. But the guard is so moved by her words, he can’t hurt her, so he lets her go. Does anyone have an idea what she does next?” Emma raises her hand. “Emma?”

“She meets Prince Charming?”

Mommy smiles, wagging her finger. “Close! We’re almost there! Anyone else? Michael?”

Michael stands up. “She kills the queen!” The kids around him voice their cheers.

“Ah, no. The princess, because she has no home to go back to anymore, becomes... a bandit.”

“Wike Wobin Hood?! A feef?” Amanda asks, waving her hands in the air to get noticed.

Mommy laughs. “Yes. Like Robin Hood, but a little differently. She lives on the run for many years, robbing carriages and trading goods for money when she can. She learns the way of the land—what she can take, what she has to keep away from, where she can hide. She even learns how to use a bow and arrow, and that’s what’s known as archery. 

“One day, the princess-turned-bandit robs a carriage belonging to a man and the woman his father wants him to marry. The bandit princess steals his bag of jewels, hits him in the face with a rock, _and_ steals his horse to get away from him! He yells after her, vowing he _will_ find her, and sure enough, he keeps his word. Some time later, he finds out where she’s hiding, and catches her in a net up in a tree! Oh, she gave him an earful, calling him a real Prince Charming. He promises never to bother her again if she just returns his bag of jewels because inside the bag was a very valuable ring and he wants it back. She tells him she can’t because she sold them already, but agrees to show him where anyway if it means he’ll stop chasing her and leave her alone.”

“Boys...” Alison mumbles.

“When they get to a river, she tries to run off, but some of the queen’s knights find her, and this time, they won’t let her go. Prince Charming comes to the princess’s rescue with his sword, and helps her fight off the knights and saves her life. So now, the princess decides to trust him, and she takes him to an old stone bridge, where ugly and smelly trolls live just underneath. She asks to buy the ring from them, but the trolls don’t want to give it back, and they start a fight. They may be slow, and not very smart, but trolls don’t give up easily. They are persistent. Before they can eat Prince Charming, the princess throws dark fairy dust at them from a little bottle on a chain she keeps around her neck, and turns the trolls into bugs. Now they’re even—he saved her life, she saved his, and they got his bag of jewels back.”

“And the ring?” Emma asks. Mommy nods again, looking down at her own hand.

“And the ring.”

Janie yawns. “So what happens next, Mrs. Blanchard?”

Shrugging, Mommy continues. “Well, that’s the end of their first adventure, one of many. They go back into the forest, and he gives her the bag of jewels. He can part with those, he says, but not the ring. It was his mother’s, see, and she told him whoever he gives it to, they will have True Love. The princess laughs at the idea, and tries it on to see if it looks any good on her, if it works. The prince can’t take his eyes off of her, and he knows in his heart she is the one he wants to marry, but she takes the ring off and says that it’s not her style, and gives him back the rest of his jewels. As they go their separate ways for now, the princess and the prince find out they actually kind of like each other after all. And...”

Everyone sits up straighter. Emma too. Mommy looks at her, right into her eyes. She’s smiling.

“A long time later, way longer than I have time to tell, the prince and the princess marry. They become the new King and Queen, and they have a beautiful baby girl of their own. And they lived happily ever after. The end.”

The whole class claps, and the noise wakes Emmy up. She claps one or two times very sleepily, and sits up properly with a big yawn.

Alison raises her hand. “Is there a lesson? Ms. Rose likes to put lessons in her stories. It takes the fun out of Story Time sometimes...”

“Hmm...” Mommy hums, “You know, Alison, I don’t think there is one today. This was purely for fun.” Alison gasps, covering her mouth with her hands as she squeals in excitement.

Jason raises his hand next. “So, what’s the mystery?”

Mommy looks at him. “Well, I never gave you the princess’s name. Using the information I did give you—the birds, the stepmother, the prince—of all the princesses you know of, who do you suppose it could be?”

This sends the class to lots of conversations trying to figure it out. Janie turns to their group, hiding her mouth behind her hand so Mommy can’t see. “None of the princesses _I_ know become bandits... Jasmine married one though,” she whispers. Then she looks up at Emma. “Do you know who it is, Emma?”

Emma rolls her eyes to the ceiling and pretends to think. Of course she knows. But if Mommy wanted everyone to know, wouldn’t she just say so? After a moment, she shrugs. “Dunno. It’s a mystery for a reason, right?”

“Hmmm...” Janie hums. “I suppose...”

The guesses on who the princess could be lasts for three more minutes. One boy says it’s Snow White, but another girl says he’s wrong. It only ends because Mommy says it’s time for Quiet Time. Everyone gets up and goes to find something quiet to do, with some kids still arguing with their friends. Only Emmy and Janie stay with Emma.

“Will you pleeeease draw pictures with me now, Emma?” Janie asks sweetly.

Emma giggles. “Sure.”

Janie bounces up and down. “I’ll go save you a seat!” As she skips off to get her things, a still sleepy Emmy hugs Emma’s waist.

“Emma, ‘m still sleepy...” she whines. Emma sits back down so she can look up at Emmy instead of down like grown-ups do.

“Do you wanna go back to the room to sleep and I’ll wake you when it’s time to go outside or when your mommy or daddy comes to pick you up?” Emmy nods, pigtails bouncing up and down.

Emma looks around for Mommy, who is helping one of the other children find a book at the bookshelf. Picking Emmy up, Emma walks right past her and into the other room that belongs to the teacher. She puts little Emmy down on the couch and helps her take her shoes off and gently tucks her in since Mommy didn’t put away the blanket yet.

“I’ll leave the door open just a little bit, okay? If you wake up early, or if you need me, I’ll be right there. Or go get Mrs. Blanchard, okay?”

Nodding again, Emmy yawns. She rolls over and curls into a ball under the blanket. Looking around the room just in case, Emma leaves a quick kiss on Emmy’s head right by her little ear. Then she leaves the room for real and lets Emmy sleep, closing the door most of the way.

She finds Janie sitting in the same spot where they had lunch, surrounded by sheets of paper and boxes of crayons and markers and colored pencils. There were a few other kids there too, but the seat next to her was empty. Janie waves her over all excited, and Emma happily goes to join her. Should she draw with her right hand or her left? It’s not like she’s any good either way, but that’s okay.

Long as she has fun, right?

* * *

Quiet Time comes and goes, and pretty soon everyone is ready to go home. As they stand by the door with their things, waiting for Mommy to let them go out to play for one last recess, Mommy thanks everyone for doing their best and making her first time subbing for them such a wonderful and fun ‘sperience.

While putting her arm ‘round Emma’s shoulders, Mommy also tells everyone to thank Emma for coming and playing with them, and Emma smiles shyly and says a very super quiet “You’re welcome...” when they do.

“Will you come back and play with us again, Emma?” Justin asks without raising his hand.

“Yeah, will you? Emma, please?” some of the other kids say. Alison and Janie hold each other’s hands while they wait for her to answer.

Emma looks at Mommy to see what she says. Mommy just smiles at her.

“What do you say, Emma? If I fill in for Ms. Rose again, would you want to come back to help?”

Emma shrugs. She looks at all the faces staring up at her, their big eyes and hopeful smiles waiting patiently for a yes. She bites her lip for a single second before nodding.

“I would love to.”

The whole class jumps and claps and cheers and yells at that. Emma hopes Emmy can sleep through it. Then Mommy and the whole class sing the Goodbye song.

The kids give Emma and Mommy hugs or high fives with their goodbyes before going out the door and placing their backpacks and lunch boxes and coats against the walls outside. Mommy goes to one of the big tables to finish the last part of a report she has to leave for the preschool teacher, so she tells Emma to go outside and be in the sun for a little bit before they go home. But before she does, Mommy kisses Emma’s forehead and boops her nose again.

“Who’s Mommy’s favorite little helper?” she coos, petting Emma’s cheek with her thumb. “Who’s the best little girl in the whole wide world?”

Emma giggles. “Me!”

“That’s right!”

The sun is bright and sunny when Emma goes outside, not like the morning when it was early and cold. She looks up at the sky and closes her eyes because she’s not supposed to look right at the sun. She sighs, smiling.

Today’s a pretty good day.

“Emma?” asks a small voice behind her.

Emma turns around. Emmy’s awake, and she’s got on her shoes, and all her stuff is packed and ready to go home with her. She’s even got her beanie on and her puffy pink jacket.

“Aren’t you hot in that jacket?” Emma asks, squatting down again, “Did you nap okay?”

“Mm-hm!” Emmy answers, smiling big. “My mommy and daddy are coming to pick me up now, so I wanted to come say bye to you first.”

“I hope you had a good first day, Emmy. I know I did. Did you already say bye to Mrs. Blanchard?”

Emmy nods happily. “Yup! She’s busy with writing, so I don’t think she heard me. Will you tell her I said it? I don’t want her to be sad cuz she thinks I didn’t.” Emma smiles.

“I’ll let her know.”

They hug again, and Emmy kisses Emma’s cheek when they pull away, making Emma gasp in surprise. Emmy giggles at her.

“Bye, Emma. Thank you for being my friend! I think...” she bites her lip for a second, unsure, and squeezes her eyes shut tight when she yells, “I think I love you!” And then she covers her mouth and her whole face behind her hands.

This makes Emma laugh, and she pets the top of Emmy’s head over her beanie hat. “I love you too, Emmy. You did very good today. Keep it up, okay? I know you can do it!”

Emmy peeks at her. “Come back soon?”

Emma nods. “I’ll try.”

The fence on the far left is open just little bit for mommies and daddies and grannies and nannies to come pick up their preschoolers. It’s guarded by two older kids in purple t-shirts with TA in yellow letters. Emmy walks over to them quick. The older girls talk with each other for a little bit, way too far for Emma to hear anything over the other kids in the class, and then Emmy turns around. She waves at Emma one last time, and Emma waves back. Then, with her backpack on her back and her blonde hair in her little beanie, and her puffy pink jacket, Emmy leaves the playground all by herself.

Mommy and Emma stay until every single student in the class is gone and the playground is empty. At 2:47, Mommy gets her bag, and walks with Emma through the same fence everyone else did and to the car. Mommy helps buckle Emma into the seat and starts the car headed for home.

* * *

“Did you enjoy Take Emma to Work Day with Mommy, Emma?”

“Mmhm! It was really fun! I can’t wait to go with you again!”

“Even if it means sharing your Mommy with other little girls and boys?”

Emma frowns. When Mommy stops at a red light, she looks to Emma for her answer.

“Well...” Emma says quietly, making a face, “I suppoooose...?”

Mommy laughs. “That’s okay, baby. To tell you the truth, I’m hoping I won’t be called in again for a while. I don’t know how Briar does it, but to each her own.”

The rest of the car ride is quiet. Emma looks out the window, and Mommy sings songs from the radio quietly to herself. When they’re almost home, Emma remembers.

“Oh! Mommy! Emmy said she told you bye before she left but you were too busy writing so you didn’t hear her. She wanted me to tell you so you wouldn’t be sad.”

Mommy parks the car before she answers, looking at Emma with a serious Mommy face as she takes the key out of its place in the car. “Did your friend Emmy tell you her last name by any chance?”

Emma thinks for a long moment. “Nope. She didn’t say. She just said her name’s Emmy and she’s four and she’s got a big sister in the fifth—no, third grade!” Emma smiles and nods her head importantly. “Yup, that’s what she said to me this morning.”

If Mommy’s happy about her remembering, she doesn’t show it. “Huh...” she says softly, crossing her arms and leaning back into her chair. “Let me think. There were twenty-two kids in that class, thirteen of them were girls...” Mommy stops talking for a little bit and she starts to mumble to herself.

Emma’s smile goes away. “What?” she asks. “What’s wrong, Mommy?”

“Nothing...” Mommy shakes her head. “I’m sorry, baby, I was trying to...“ Mommy stops again, and looks up at Emma. “The other children saw her, right? Emmy. Or just you?”

Emma nods her head slowly. “The other kids saw her too, Mommy. She played with Alison and Janie and Becky the first outside recess. She ate lunch at the table with us, remember? And she sat in my lap and fell asleep to your story because she didn’t get to nap with me earlier because you closed the door so she couldn’t get back in.” Emma squints at Mommy s’piciously. “Do you need glasses, Mommy?“

But Mommy’s already reaching into her bag for her phone. “Nope. I need to make a phone call. This will only take a moment, sweetie, then we can go inside and watch movies, eat popcorn, and drink juice with Daddy, okay? Sit tight for just one... moment...” She already pressed the button and was waiting for the person on the other side to answer.

Emma does. She waits patiently like a good girl for Mommy to finish talking. She doesn’t pay attention because Mommy uses lots of big adult words, and sometimes she spells things just in case Emma’s listening even though she doesn’t have to. Emma looks out the window, she plays with the seat belt, she hums a song she made up just right then, and she waits.

Then Mommy spells the word G-H-O-S-T.

When Mommy’s done on the phone, Emma looks at her, eyes big and wide. When Emma opens her mouth, all she can say is a small...

tiny

little

“... what?”

* * *

Daddy is standing right outside the door waiting for them, his arms open wide ready for her to run into, and Emma runs up the steps as fast as she can. Before Daddy can ask how school was, she slams right into his strong body, throwing her arms around his neck.

“Daddy! Daddy! It’s scary!” she cries, squeezing her eyes shut.

Daddy holds her and rubs her back. “What’s scary, Emma? What happened?”

Emma can hear Mommy’s footprints but she doesn’t turn around. When Mommy is right behind them, she sighs, and drops her bag down on the floor next to her.

“I’ll explain. First, let’s get Emma inside. She’s has quite a day.”

“I can see that...” Daddy says quietly under his breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, we’re finally done! Omg! Yay!
> 
> I hope you had as much fun reading this fic as I had writing. Please let me know what you think! Thanks! <3
> 
> I also take prompts so if you have any, let me know!


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